Altitude Hypoxia Reveals Red Blood Cells as Sugar Sinks, Offering Diabetes Clues
Researchers find that low oxygen at high altitude causes red blood cells to absorb large amounts of glucose from the blood, acting as a glucose sink and improving oxygen delivery. This mechanism may explain the lower diabetes prevalence at high altitudes and points to new treatments, including HypoxyStat, which mimics hypoxia to reduce blood sugar by altering red blood cell glucose handling.